Chapter 29
Hermione's POV
I walked with Harry, Ginny, Neville and Luna to the edge of the lake where Parvati, Seamus and Dean were sitting, holding a stack of toast in my hands. We'd all woken up late and breakfast had finished by the time we'd come downstairs. We'd only just managed to grab some toast, eggs, bacon, a couple jars of jam and some bottles of orange juice. The celebration last night had been less fun than usual, though it had still gone until nearly midnight. Everyone had discussed what Nott had done to Harry and debated what his punishment would be. We still didn't know what had happened to him, many people thought he'd been expelled, but I expected Draco would be able to tell me. We reached the edge of the lake and sat down on the large picnic blanket Parvati had conjured, spreading out the food on paper plates.
After twenty minutes we had nearly finished all the food. Neville and Seamus were the only ones still eating. Parvati was lying on her back, sunbaking, Luna was staring into space and Ginny was lying in Harry's lap. I was gazing across the grounds, having grown bored of the Quidditch talk, when I saw Draco and Blaise heading towards us.
Even though we'd been together for a while, seeing Draco still took my breath away. It didn't hurt that the sunlight streaming behind him made him look like he was glowing.
"Hey guys," Blaise said when they reached us, sitting down next to Parvati's head.
Harry, Ginny and Dean stopped talking and everyone said hello. Dean and Seamus had finally accepted Draco and Blaise and were beginning to quite like them. Draco sat down next to me and put his arm around my waist, smiling at me.
"Hi," I murmured, snuggling into his chest.
"What happened to your cheek?" Parvati asked Blaise, dragging me out of my Draco-trance. Now that I looked at him properly I saw a pink mark on Blaise's face.
"Oh, Drake and I got into a duel with Nott," Blaise said casually.
"What?" We all said together.
"Are you okay?" I asked Draco, concerned.
"Yeah, fine," He smiled.
"When did you see him?" Ginny said fiercely.
"Calm down, babe," Harry said, even though his face was a little angry too.
"Last night," Draco said.
"What happened to him?" Neville asked. Luna was now giving the conversation her undivided attention and Parvati had propped herself up on her elbows.
"Detentions, a letter home and he got kicked of the team," Blaise said.
"That's it?" Ginny asked incredulously.
"Well that was before we got into the duel," Draco said. "Slughorn dragged him back to McGonagall's office after that."
"Did you two get in trouble as well?" I asked.
"We got a detention Monday night but it was worth it," Blaise said aggressively.
"Did you curse the crap out of Nott?" Parvati asked, smiling.
"Slughorn broke it up before too long but he got the worst of it," Blaise smiled savagely.
"What happened when he came back?" Dean asked.
"Please tell me he's expelled," Seamus begged.
"Dunno, we didn't go back," Blaise admitted.
"What?" I asked, looking at Draco.
"We spent the afternoon in the library and then slept in the room of requirement," Draco explained.
"We're thinking of moving in there if Nott doesn't get kicked out," Blaise said.
"Can you do that?" Harry asked.
"What if someone else wants to use the room?" Neville pointed out.
"We'll only be using it overnight and either way, I'm not sleeping in the same room as Nott," Draco said, fiercely.
"Whatever," Ginny said, "How do we find out what happened to Nott, I wanna curse his sorry ass!"
"Probably have to ask a Slytherin, and I'm not going anywhere near Pansy," Draco said.
"I will," Blaise volunteered, "But will one of you come with me? She'll leave us alone that way."
"I will." Parvati stood up, dusting grass off her shorts. Blaise smiled and together they walked away in the direction of the castle.
I looked up at Draco. "How long d'you think they'll take?"
Drake shrugged. "Depends how long it takes to find her."
"So how much damage did you do to Nott?" Ginny persisted.
Draco and Harry smiled at her eagerness. "Not as much as I'd like," Draco admitted. "He's got a long cut on his arm, but I dunno how deep. The cut on his forehead was bleeding pretty heavily, though." Ginny smiled at that.
"Head wounds always bleed heavily," I informed them.
"Oh," Draco and Ginny said, sounding disappointed.
Draco looked over my shoulder and smiled. "Blaise and Parvati are coming back, they look happy."
"Please let him be expelled," Seamus continued to mutter under his breath.
Blaise and Parvati hurried over, stopping at the edge of the picnic blanket, puffing slightly.
"What happened to him?" Ginny asked eagerly.
"Suspended!" Parvati said happily.
"For how long?" Neville asked, excitedly.
"Until Easter." Blaise smiled. "Five weeks of freedom, seven if you count Easter break."
